I'm a little nervous about posting this. I've never played Fire Emblem so my take on these two are almost completely unbased 8D;; I'm not terribly pleased with how it came out...

But, um, I seem to have joined the legion of Ike/Marth fans...I blame my cousin. And I dedicate this to her since she seemed to like it so much when she read it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy~

Marth was having trouble pinpointing exactly when it'd happened.

He wasn't normally a person to dwell on matters that couldn't be changed (and assuredly it could not, he had tried), but he was determined to find out when he'd developed..

..Just thinking it made him cringe..

..a crush.

It was stupid, really, or so anyone would've told him, if Marth was the type to go around spewing his thoughts, to worry about it. But he was quiet; a bit of a loner, and he completely preferred it that way..so he didn't exactly have anyone who could reassure him that a healthy crush was normal.

Nevertheless, he was a prince. And a prince should be able to stand up to something as silly as an infatuation with someone on his own.

The more he stood up to it, however, the worse it seemed to get..

..Maybe it was when they'd first met, and Ike had given him that disgustingly charming smile and shook his hand-Delicately, because, as Marth later found out, he'd thought he was female.

Fortunately, the Prince was so used to it that he didn't even bat an eye. He'd simply walked up to him the day after he found out, tapped him on the shoulder, and informed him rather formally that he was indeed a man. Perhaps it was then, when Ike's eyes had widened and his arm came to rest behind his head. "I apologize. My bad." he'd said, looking genuinely sorry as the others around him snickered.

Or it could've been any of the times during the heat of battle he'd realized he was staring at him and been knocked clean off the platform, or maybe it was the times after those when Ike would help him up and he'd fall lightly against his chest for just a brief moment...

Marth could feel his cheeks color and he stood up quickly. That did it; this was over. It was nothing but a crush and if he could handle the falling of his entire kingdom then certainly he could handle this. It would fade eventually and until then he wouldn't let himself get so concerned.

Nodding to affirmate this, he headed off to train. A good hard sweat would get his mind off of useless thoughts.

Despite his best efforts, Marth learned the hard way that emotions were an unrivaled adversary.

He was so immersed in not-thinking-about-Ike that he hadn't even realized that lunchtime had come around until the others he'd been training with headed out of the training grounds. He hadn't even noticed until that moment, but he was rather hungry, so he went off himself to find nourishment.

This whole crush situation was getting out of hand, and it was beginning to irritate him-Marth was normally a calm and reserved guy, but he had a quick and fiery temper. He had failed his earlier goal of not-thinking-about-it-until-it-went-away quite quickly, and because he HAD thought about it he'd realized that perhaps because it had such an effect on him it may not be JUST a crush...

"Marth!-Hey!"

Marth was about ready to shove his blade down the throat of the fool who dared to disturb him and in fact had his hand on the hilt when he turned-

And came face to face with the object of his recent affections.

Ike came to a stop in front of him, a small smirk tugging at his mouth.

"Hey, I just..I wanted to ask you if you'd like to join us for lunch." He gestured to the group of competitors behind him, who were all chatting cheerfully and looking as though they were having a carefree time.

Marth blinked. He was so stunned by both the sudden invitation and the fact that Ike-the person he'd been unconsciously swooning over in his mind-was engaging him in conversation that the only sound that came from his lips was a rather unintelligent "Gwah?"

Ike on the other hand seemed to take this odd sound as an inquiry of 'Why?' and glanced at the sky for a moment before speaking.

"I know it's a little odd, But I've noticed you're always alone. And not just that, but not here, as if you're dreaming about being somewhere far away. I think..Maybe you just need someone to extend a hand and invite you in. And so.."

He did just that, his palm hovering a few inches away from Marth's chest.

Marth blinked again and composed himself, much resembling a bird who has been disturbed from its nest, ruffled feathers and all. "Are you implying that my isolation isn't intentional? If I wanted to sit with any of you I would have done so long ago. You act as though it is a privilege."

There they were, the princely mannerisms he'd been neglecting for so long. But to his surprise Ike just smirked again and dropped his hand.

"Really? So I guess, all of the times you've spent staring at our group were just because you were interested in the sky above our heads?"

Marth flushed. He'd hit the nail on the head; Of course, Marth didn't really care about any of the allies who sat AROUND Ike..

Still, he really hadn't even realized he was doing it. How embarrassing.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Marth snapped, haughty and angry he'd been humiliated. Crush or not, he refused to take part in a conversation that was only steadily annoying him. He turned on his heel-

But before he could take one step, Ike's hand had shot out, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him backwards.

Marth's basket of food slipped from his hands and fell with a small plop to the grassy ground. Both of them were still and Marth was very aware that his chin was resting on Ike's chest and that he smelled very, very good....His train of thought had pretty much stalled there.

"Maybe," Ike said, in a deep, quiet tone, "I just want you to sit with me?..How about it?" the hands firmly gripping the royal's shoulders were trembling.

Marth found himself looking up and into the other man's face, scrutinizing it freely as he hadn't ever really been able to..And saw that Ike was feeling the exact same dumb, ridiculous, colossal things he was.

And for all of his self-respect and princely dignity, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.